We are doing a 15 mile sponsored walk from Stenhouse to Polbeth in memory of Stephen Russell and in aid of the Polbeth community, the youth of Polbeth and Polbeth United Community FC.

Our dear friend Stevie Russell Sadly suffered an aneurism while driving to work and passed away a few days later at the end of last year. Stephen was a pillar of the Polbeth community and was constantly organising fundraisers and race nights for various youth committee’s throughout Polbeth.

Since Stephen’s passing, no-one has been able to take over the monumental role Stephen played in organising, funding and raising awareness for the challenges the youth of Polbeth is facing. Stephen firmly believed sports and activities was the way to promote a bright future within the youth. Idle and bored youth often leads to troublesome behaviours which led to Stephen working tirelessly to provide activities and sports for the youth and wider Polbeth community.

Stephen done lots of work coaching and organising the various Polbeth Community FC age groups and gave up most of his weeknights for no reward other than seeing the young teams develop and improve. He paid for young players strips and training who otherwise would not have been able to attend due to financial constraints.

This fundraiser is to help raise money for Stephen’s ultimate dream for Polbeth- a 3G pitch. There are 3 grass pitches at Limefield in Polbeth which are often unusable due to inclement weather and drainage issues. The club are obligated to hire the 4G pitches from Excite at West Calder High School for the full year despite only requiring use in the winter months at a huge expense. This means there is very little for the youth of Polbeth to do in terms of sports and activities. This has seen a negative impact on the mental health and lifestyles of the youth in Polbeth, who look toward other, more nefarious means of entertainment.

We hope to continue Stephen’s work by turning his untimely passing into a drive for positive change and to continue to build awareness for the various challenges faced by the youth of Polbeth today.